KALAMAZOO —Jeff Heppler has been a Kalamazoo County commissioner for nearly a decade, and for at least the past 20 years,
he has worked as both a police sergeant in Galesburg and as police chief in Augusta.

That's why Heppler said he is "perturbed" that in the past few months the county has begun investigating his multiple jobs
to see if there is a potential conflict of interest.

"All of a sudden it's a major issue, and I don't think it's a major issue," said Heppler, a Republican from Richland. "I'm
hoping this is not a political thing, with all my heart I do."

But county board Chairwoman Deb Bucholtz said
looking closer into Heppler's current positions — which also include
serving
as president of the Richland Village Council and on three fire
departments — has nothing to do with politics. Rather, Heppler
could be violating state law, which forbids a public official or
public employee from holding "two or more incompatible offices
at the same time."

"The law raises the question: Where are your loyalties?" said Buchholtz, R-Cooper Township.

Heppler said he questioned if the probe was connected to the newly drawn up county board districts, which could pit him against
Buchholtz if they both decide to run for re-election in 2012.

"When you start to look at it, I kind of wonder," Heppler said.

Buchholtz said that was untrue.

"It has absolutely nothing to do with
redistricting," said Buchholtz, adding the issue was brought up in
February before the
County Reapportionment Committee announced the new boundary lines
on April 26. The committee said the county Board of Commissioners
will shrink from 17 districts to 11 in 2013.

Payment request triggered review

After talking with Buchholtz and board Vice Chairman David Buskirk, Corporate Counsel Thom Canny said he asked House Speaker
Jase Bolger, R-Marshall, to request an opinionfrom the Michigan attorney generalon whether Heppler is violating state law.

Canny said Heppler's positions became an issue earlier this year when the Kalamazoo County commissioners were asked to approve
a one-time payment of $440 to Galesburg for Heppler's police sergeant wages.

The money was pay for when Heppler worked as part of a countywide effort to beef up drunken-driving enforcement.

When the city of Galesburg asked to get
reimbursed for Heppler's work, Canny said he became aware that Heppler
might be violating
the Incompatible Public Office Act.

Galesburg ended up withdrawing its funding request, but Canny said the county wants an opinion to clarify the law.

Heppler said he "definitely feels like I'm being singled out" because other elected leaders serve on government boards, yet
hold regular jobs at employers that do business with the county.

For instance, Buskirk is employed at Kalamazoo Electric Inc. and former commissioner Jeff Balkema owns an excavating company.
Heppler said both companies have received county contracts to do work.

Canny said Heppler's situation is different because in his various positions he is a publicly funded employee,not an employee working for a private company, like Buskirk or Balkema.

As Augusta's police chief, Heppler said he earns
about $25,000 a year and has worked there since 1982. He has been a
sergeant
at the Galesburg Police Department since 1991 and earns about
$40,700 a year, according to the city. He also gets paid a stipend
of about $600 a year for serving as the Richland village
president, Heppler said.

When asked how he finds the time to hold so many jobs, Heppler said, "There's 168 hours in every week. I just use a lot of
them."